Hydroaeroplane.



T. SLOPER.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED Oct. 25. l9l6.

Patentd July 23, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

T. PER.

HYD 0P APPLICATION FILED 0c .1916. 1,273,549. Pate July 23,1918. SHEET2.

MC m C mm THOMAS SLOPER, F DEVIZES, ENGLAND.

HYDROAEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1918.

Application filed October 25, 1916. Serial No. 127,566.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS SLOPER, a subject of the King of England,residing at Devizes, Wiltshire, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improve- 'ments in Hydroaeroplanes, of which the following is aspecification.

Thls invention 1s for improvements in or relating to hydro-aeroplanesand has for its object to provide means whereby hydroaeroplanes may bemade to leave the water more easily than has been possible up to thepresent.

It is well-known that when floats, for example of circular cross-sectionand streamline shape, are employed, it is found that the hydro-aeroplanehas difficulty in leaving the water. On the other hand, floats of thisform have the advantage that they offer comparatively littleair-resistance and it is more easy to build them in such manner thatthey have considerable structural strength without undue weight than itis into; a horizontal position, thus giving the operator a furtherelement to attend to. It has also been proposed to provide narrow planessituated between the floats of a hydro-aeroplane, but not so mounted asto lift the floats entirely clear of the Water.

According to the present invention, there is combined with the floats ofa hydroaeroplane and a lifting-plane for raising the floats from thewater, means for bodily raising or lowering the lifting-plane to suitthe speed at which the hydro-aeroplane is traveling in the water. Suchmeans may be arranged to bodily move'the lifting-plane without alteringits angle.

Preferably the plane is of considerable length relatively to the lengthof the floats and can be swung about its frontsupport to vary the anglerelatively to the floats. As every element ofiers wind-resistance, animportant feature with reference to the plane mounted to move bodily asdescribed, is that'it'is of sufficient area not only to operate as alifting-plane in the water but to operate with sufficient efiiciency asa lifting-plane in the air to nullify, from a practical point of View,its own air-resistance.

In the accompanying drawings, which llustrate one method of carrying outthis 1nvent1on:-

Figure 1 is a plan of the floats and plane, the parts of the machineabove the floats being removed;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, r

Fig. 4 is a section through a modified form of plane, and

Fig. 5 is a section through yet another modified formof plane.

The same letters indicate the same parts throughout the drawings.

The floats A, which in the arrangement shown in the drawings are threein number, are secured toupper transverse-members A which carry theframing of the machine. To the under-side of the floats is secured anaxle-member B on which are mounted the wheels 13* for landing andstarting purposes. The floats are interposed between the axle B and themembers A as cushioning devices, and they may be built up in anydesiredmanner. Two thrust-members B are provided to take the backward thrust ofthe wheels on the axle B. These members constitute a yielding-connectionbetween the said axle and the rear transverse-member A as they arehinged to the axle and the i said member Af so that the wheel-axle canrise and fall wlth the cushioning action of Mounted on the wheel-axle Bare bellcrank levers C one being situated near each wheel. One arm ofeach lever is pivoted to the forward end of a plane D, the rear end ofwhich issupported by links C situated one on each side of the plane. Thelower ends of the links are pivoted to the plane and the upper ends arepivoted to rocking-levers C which are pivoted at C one to each of themembers B The free ends of the levers C and the free arms of thebell-crank levers C are connected to any convenient control-mechanism,not shown in the drawings, so that they can be swung into variousfpositions to adjust the height and angle 0 mechanism may link thelevers O, C to- .110 the plane D. The controla V gether, so that theyalways move in direct relation to one another, or they may be separatelyadjustable so that either the forward or the'back end of the plane maybe independently adjusted except in so far as one end will always beswung up or down by movement ofthe other end.

It will be seen that by swinging the levers C and C simultaneously in aclockwise direction, the plane I) can be bodily lowered. This is afeature of considerable importance because it is found that the heightof the plane relatively to the floats requires to be adjusted fordifferent speeds on the water Y and the means for lowering it may beeither arranged to simultaneously vary the angle by swinging the wholeplane about its front point of pivoting, or it maybe arranged to v Evenso, the lever C could thenbe further arranged so that at will it can be-disconnected from the interconnecting member for separate adjustment.

The lowest position to which the plane can be brought is indicated inchain-line in the drawings and in this position it is also shown at amore steeply inclined angle than that occupied by it as shown in fulllines. The plane when in the loweredposition will 40 lift the floats andwheels entirely out of the water before it leaves the water itself, butfor landing purposes it is preferably raised ppn approximately thepositionshown in full es It will be seen that the area of the plane D isconsiderable as compared with the length of the floats so that it hassufiicie'nt lifting power for leaving the water and also' operatessufii'ciently as a lifting-plane in the air to nullify, from a practicalpoint of view, its own air-resistance. If the aviator finds that thelifting-power of the plane in the air can be increased by re-adjustingit after leaving the water, it can be so re-adjusted during flight andin any case it is intended to be, raised before attempting to land onthe ground. 4 v

Preferably the plane is made of some bullet-proof, or approximatelybullet-proof, ma-

terial and by situating it in the center of' the machine between the twoouter floats, it

can thus serve as a protection'for the aviator Who would be directlyover it.

, If desired, the under-side ofthe plane may be stepped, and if it ismade of sheetmetal gle of the plane can be adjusted.

these steps maybe formed by corrugating the metal so that correspondingsteps appear on the upper side, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Therisers of the steps are shown perforated at D toadmit air beneath thesteps. The upper side may be covered with canvas to. give it a smoothsurface for the purpose of decreasing wind-resistance.

Obviously the plane could be divided centrally and mounted as twoseparate planes between the two outer floats and the central float asdesired, but when the whole plane is set at a level lower than thefloats it is convenientto construct it in one as shown.

Although the plane shown in the drawings is built up in such manner asto practically constitute one piece, it will be appreciated that it canbe built up of slats placed one {behind the other and transverse to thedirection of travel. In Fig. 5 such an arrange- 85 'ment is shownwherein the slats E are set I at an angle relatively to the generalangle of the plane thereby producing a result similar to the steppedplane shown-in Fig. 4:. For the-purpose of this invention such aconstruction is considered as a single plane as distinct from a numberof slat-like planes superimposed with a space between them and mountedin a frame so that their planing surfaces lie approximately at-rightangles to 5 the frame in which they are mounted.

The slats E may be pivoted at E and connected to a rod E wherebytheangle at which they lie relatively to the general ani What I claim asmy invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In ahydroplane the combination of floats for supporting the machine upon thewater, a liftlng plane for contact with the water at a level below that'of the floats, means operatively connected to the front of the plane tocarry and to raise and lower the forward end of the same, andindependentlyoperable means operatively connected to the trailing end ofthe plane to carry and to V raise and .lower the trailing end of thesame whereby the angle of the plane can be changed as well as the wholeplane bodily raised or lowered, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. r

'2. In a hydroplane the combination of floats for supporting the machineupon the water, landing wheels supported below the floats, a forwardlydisposed axle for the landing wheels cushioned against the under side ofthe floats, rearwardly directed thrust members connected at the forwardend to the axle of the landing wheels and hinged at the rear end to theframeof the machine above the floats, a lifting lplane for contact withthe waterat a level below that of the floats, means pivoted on a supportwhich moves as one with the rearwardly directed thrust members aforesaidand operatively 130 connected to the front of the plane to carry changedas well as the whole plane bodily and to raise and lower the same andmeans raised or lowered, substantially as and for pivoted on a supportwhich moves'as one the purpose set forth. 10 with the said thrustmembers and opera- In testimony whereof I have signed my 5 tivelyconnected to the trailing end of the name to this specification.

plane to carry and to raise and lower the 1 same'whereby the'angle ofthe plane can be THOMAS SLOPER.

